Dentsu Announces Launch of New Trading Desk Service

Dentsu Inc. (TOKYO:4324)(ISIN: JP3551520004)(President & CEO: Tadashi Ishii; Head Office: Tokyo; Capital: 74,609.81 million yen) announced today the launch in Japan of its new trading desk service "Dentsu Audience Network.” Established with the support and collaboration of Dentsu Group companies Amnet, cyber communications inc. and Nextage Dentsu, the new service will maximize the efficient operation and effectiveness of programmatic buying on the Internet.

The driving force behind the launch is the widespread use of real-time bidding (hereinafter "RTB”), which refers to the buying and selling of ad impressions on websites in real time through automatic bidding, using technology platforms that enable ad serving through the RTB mechanism. In addition to being able to properly grasp the behavior of users (the audience), using RTB on these platforms enables efficient ad serving at the right time to an audience that matches conditions such as the bid price and target audience that were specified in advance.

Meanwhile, in order to maximize advertising effectiveness, the large number of services used in serving ads in real time must be properly managed, and this is where trading desks are needed. To be more specific, a large number of services such as the demand side platform (DSP) service that manages ad serving, and the data management platform (DMP) service that manages audience information and other data, must be appropriately and expertly managed.

In order to provide the best performance from programmatic buying through RTB for its corporate clients, Dentsu has set up an in-house trading desk consisting of highly qualified and experienced staff, and, in cooperation with the three above-mentioned Group companies, established a system that will offer best-in-class services.

One of the features of the trading desk service that Dentsu will provide is the ability to discover consumer insights with regard to brands and commodities. In programmatic buying to date, the general method used was the pursuit of a reduction in the costs incurred in bringing users to the point where performance targets are met, such as the cost of attracting visitors to the website or the cost of creating the ads. In programmatic buying through RTB, however, since the precise behavior of the users can be ascertained (what kind of people visited the site; what kind of reactions they showed to the ads they looked at; and so forth), consumer insights with regard to commodities and brands can be ascertained. Dentsu will use the consumer insights grasped through RTB as the basis for planning advertising communications, thereby increasing the accuracy of a brand’s approach to its target audience.

Another feature is that by making effective use of its Group networks, Dentsu can provide better access to the state-of-the-art technology in programmatic buying that uses RTB. Real-time bidding markets have evolved recently, particularly in Europe and North America, and technology trends tend to originate in these regions and then spread out to the rest of the world. In this context, through collaboration with Amnet and DSP companies that offer leading-edge technology, Dentsu has established a system that will provide world-class services to its clients in Japan.

Supported cutting-edge platforms that clients can use in their pursuit of efficiency and effectiveness include Turn, the U.S. marketing software company with an integrated DSP, data management platform (DMP) and analytics platform, and 20 offices worldwide, including in Tokyo, Sydney, Hong Kong and Singapore; MediaMath, a leading digital media-buying platform with offices in the U.S., London and APAC and which has built a reputation on its bidding logic; and Google’s DoubleClick Bid Manager DSP that is integrated with DoubleClick’s ad serving platforms. Other platforms that can be used include those provided by IgnitionOne, a global U.S. company that offers unique DSP technologies such as the capability to analyze user engagement in the ads served; digital-advertising technology company Rocket Fuel that is headquartered in Silicon Valley; as well as leading Japanese DSP MicroAd BLADE and other Japanese DSPs.

Dentsu’s Aegis Media subsidiary Amnet^*1, Aegis’s trading desk at the forefront of RTB, has given the Group a competitive edge in these areas.

Ashwini Karandikar, President, Amnet Global said, "At Amnet, we are truly excited about the launch of the ‘Dentsu Audience Network.’ In an increasingly data driven environment, the ‘Dentsu Audience Network’ will empower our teams to deliver strategic, measureable and sustainable business outcomes for brand and direct-response clients.”

cyber communications inc., a media representative for Internet-based advertising, and Nextage Dentsu, which provides digital performance marketing services, are the two Dentsu Group subsidiaries that will handle the trading desk service operations in Japan.

By sharing the knowledge and knowhow of these industry-leading companies, Dentsu will provide best-in-class programmatic buying services to its clients in Japan, and will build a system that will enable it to further enhance its position as a leader in the "marketing convergence”^*2 domain.

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About the Dentsu Group

Led by Dentsu Inc. (TOKYO:4324) (ISIN:JP3551520004), the world's largest advertising agency brand with a history of 112 years, the Dentsu Group offers a comprehensive range of client-centric communications and media services in 110 countries across five continents. Its Japan-wide network and London-based global operating unit Dentsu Aegis Network Ltd., which oversees the operations of Aegis Media, a leading global media and digital communications specialist, as well as those of the Dentsu Network, which manages all of Dentsu's other global business operations outside Japan, together employ more than 37,000 dedicated professionals. The Group is also active in the production and marketing of sports and entertainment content on a global scale.

Dentsu Inc.: www.dentsu.com
Dentsu Aegis Network Ltd: www.dentsuaegisnetwork.com
Dentsu Network: www.dentsunetwork.com